Also Island based in the Pacific. I worked with an old Master Sgt in 1960s before he retired who had been around Corsairs (He was passionate abt flying). He told me plane was known as a "widow-maker" in the Navy, due to high torque on carrier go-arounds. Navy "dumped" it to Marines. He said you could blindfold a Corsair pilot and he would walk in a circle, because of one rudder leg being so much stronger....

The US Navy tried to use them on carriers, but the pilots had a hard time landing them due to the long nose blocking their view of the ship. They (or maybe it was the Brits) eventually figured a way to have them make a wide turning approach so the pilot could see the ship up until the end. I guess it worked a little better, but I think the Brits had better success with them on carriers. And I'm guessing the high torque issue was also a factor. It has a great big prop on it. In fact, the big prop was the reason they "bent" the wings. It was to raise the nose up so the prop would clear the ground without having to make the landing gear longer/bigger. But the Marines got more and better use of them as land based fighters, e.g. the Black Sheep. Anyway, I love Corsairs! Thanks for the great shot, Dirk!

Marines flew these in WWII and Korea.Father in Law was Crew Chief on one of these at El Toro MCAS after he returned from So. Pacific in '44 till war's end.In 1968 I met one of the last Flying Sgts in the Corps. He drove one in Korea.I think the French used them in Indo-China.

My father was a navy pilot from 1943-1946, then flew in the USNR through the early 50's. He flew the Hellcat, usually as a night-fighter pilot. I once asked him if he had flown Corsairs. He said that he had flown them a few times, but he did not like landing them. He commented on the position of the pilot and the long nose creating difficulties, and the landing gear being a little less stable for carrier landings. I am not real clear, but that is what I remember from a conversation 30 years ago. He also told me that his unit VF-33 flew Corsairs out of Guadalcanal, before he joined it.

Just to clarify actually this a/c was landing at the the time my apologies about that. This a/c is painted in the colors of Lt. Robert Hampton Gray R.C.N. attached to H.M.S. Formidable during the Pacific Campaign in which he was shot down and killed while attacking a Japanese destroyer receiving The Victoria Cross.